Shoujo Brave
by Valhalla Time
Summary: Not that he ever cried about it or anything, but Seto Kousuke never really liked people that much. Especially crazy, white-haired weirdos like this girl. / Reverse!AU, part of an ongoing fic series titled 'Touketsu Project.' Reviews are welcomed ;)
1. Wishes Stays The Same, But Eyes Harden

_A/N: Hi, I'm Valhalla Time!_

 _One day, my friend tumblr Yair and I came up with a reverse!Kagerou Pro. Basically, a reverse character personality AU._

 _We've flipped everything, and now turning it into a fic series titled 'Touketsu Project'_

 _The order the fics will come out will be pretty random, and first we have reverse!Shounen Brave!_

 _Disclaimer: Shounen Brave lyrics are from JubyPhonic. She's awesome btw. Oh also, I kinda don't own Kagerou, but do own Touketsu! Sorta... enjoy!_

* * *

"Leave me alone!" he screamed, throat trembling.

"Fine, fine! Whatever, _Seto_ ," the leader of the children sneered. "Your dumb little mutt's gonna have to get it instead thou-"

A fist went flying before they could finish speaking, knocking several of their teeth loose.

The small boy who owned the small fist didn't wait around for them to recover. Without as much as a glance to the rest, he jumped feet first into the freezing, hazy water.

* * *

 _Hanako….. Hanako are you okay…?_

 _Why did they have to…_

 _Why does anyone have to…?_

 _Why….._

 _I hate them._

 _I don't want to be near any of them again!_

 _[I wish… I didn't have to hear people speak._ _Just so I won't have to say anything back.]_

* * *

 _Hanako-_

Wow, they're really rotten!

 _why does-_

Cheat 'em and you leave 'em.

 _everyone-_

You're the worst!

 _think such-_

Just die, make my day!

 _cruel things?_


	2. Monsters Don't Get Adopted, Right?

_A/N: I wrote Chapter 2 at the same time as Chapter 1, so enjoy both!)_

* * *

"My name is Ayaka," said the smiling lady, who had bent down to their line of sight. "This is my husband, Kenjirou."

The man with the dorky glasses standing next to her gave a wink to the three of them.

Kousuke suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

"You can call us 'Ayaka' or 'Kenjirou' or even 'okaa-san' or 'otou-san' if you want!"

This time Kousuke didn't suppress it.

 _'Let's hope that these introductions go smoothly,'_ he heard her think. He pulled his hood down.

Looking away from the adults in front of them, he caught glimpses of the girl standing a little ways behind the couple, shifting and trying to take peeks at them as well. She made a pitiful squealing sound when 'Ayaka' finally brought her right to the front.

"This is our daughter Ayano! She's your 'onee-san' now, maybe even your 'onee-chan' one day! She'll help take care of you all when we aren't able to, so I hope you'll be able to get along with her."

Ayaka nudged her head at the three orphans and smiled encouragingly down at Ayano. "Oh… um-uh… my name's A-Ayano," she managed to stutter out, her brown eyes shifting uncomfortably and looking anywhere except at them. "I'll d-do my best to be the good onee-chan..."

 _'Oh dear, that was really awkward wasn't it… they probably think I'm dumb and clumsy now…'_ She ducked her head lowly.

Kousuke blinked a few times. Once, twice, thrice - nope, the red was still there, blazing right inside his eyes. Another attempt to banish it failed, another intruding voice in his head.

 _'I never wanted siblings in the first place. Hiyori's already enough. Why are we even still going through with this_ ― _ahhh, the shortest one looks angry!'_

 _Short?_ Temper flaring, Kousuke turned his head sharply and shot her a dirty look, eyes glaring from under his hood. Great, he would have to deal with this girl's sad thoughts all the time now, wouldn't he? Fantastic.

Regardless, he smirked a little bit at the terrified squeak she let out, swiftly turning back towards 'Kenjirou.'

Unsurprisingly, the sight of Ayano trying to sink and hide in her father's lab coat didn't seem to faze the blonde boy next to Kousuke in the slightest.

"Hi, okaa-san, otou-san, and onee-chan! I'm Kano Shuuya," he said with a grin and a wave. "Thanks so much again; I'm sure we'll be one big happy family."

 _'That was good right? They should be pleased now, right? I practiced saying that enough times didn't I? I-I have to make them like me-'_

Kousuke scoffed internally. While he had eventually gotten used to it, Shuuya's constant cheerful paranoia never failed to sound painful and needy.

"You're very welcome Shuuya," Ayaka smiled back. "I'm sure we'll all get along just fine. And what about the lovely young lady over here?"

The green-haired girl on Shuuya's right took her cue to introduce herself.

"Greetings, Ayaka-san, Kenjirou-san, Ayano-san. My name is Tsubomi, daughter of the late Kido family."

She curtsied, probably just to be even more obnoxious. As she knelt, Kousuke caught her eyes scanning just behind the Tateyama family. _'Hm, their house is definitely not as grand as my old one was, not even close… But any place is better than that horrid orphanage, I suppose.'_

Kousuke pulled the hood down his face even more. Augh, even her thoughts were snobby. _What a priss._

"I'm very sorry for your losses, Tsubomi. I know that we won't ever be able to replace your old families, but we'll try our best to be there for the three of you."

Tsubomi nodded respectfully, her holier-than-thou thoughts melting away into the background. Ayaka finally turned towards Kousuke.

Ah, it was his turn, wasn't it? Might as well get it over with.

"Seto Kousuke," he cut in before Ayaka could address him. "Just call me Seto, if that's any easier," he added, shoving his hands into his pockets and refusing to look anyone in the eye.

"Oh! Well, I, ah- s-sure, if that's what you want," Ayaka stumbled through her words, taken back. Kenjirou didn't look surprised, however, and took a step towards him, Ayano still hugging his back from behind.

"Glad to have you as part of the family then, _Seto_!" He coupled it with another cheeky wink and a hand on Kousuke's shoulder.

 _'This one's a little rough around the edges, isn't he? Oh well, I'm sure we'll be able to straighten that out. He has a soft heart under that frown, I'm sure.'_ Kousuke heard him chuckle in his mind and squirmed under his hand.

Once Ayaka had composed herself again, she prompted everyone to go inside.

"Ayano dear, show them to their rooms while we prepare a meal, okay?"

"O-okay. Uh… follow me, you guys…"

As he followed their new, nervous 'onee-chan' through the house, while listening to his new 'brother's' noisy chatter and his new 'sister's' non-noisy silence, 'Seto' realized that this whole "Him-Getting-Adopted" thing was really happening.

 _Whoopee._

* * *

It took about a month or so spent living as a member of the Tateyama family for Seto to decide that he wanted out. Quite surprising, he honestly didn't think he'd last this long.

It's not that he hated his new 'family' per se, he just couldn't stand them anymore.

Shuuya, for example, was incredibly annoying as always. Always so irritatingly happy, cheerful, perky, you name it; he played being clingy all the way up to ten. Even now, he could never get the hint that just because they used to share a room in the orphanage and both had freakishly red monster-eyes, that it didn't make them friends. And that said nothing about his nonstop talking, Talking, TALKING.

("Kousuke! Do you wanna -"

"For the thousandth time, NO.")

He had been a pain in the ass back then, too. Seto could still distinctly remember that time when he snuck out to go for a walk in the woods (definitely _not_ to escape the voices or anything), and Shuuya just had to tattle on him. _"I just couldn't lie to the caretakers, Kousuke!"_ he had sputtered out when Seto demanded to know the reason why.

Seto had been so angry, so much that he lost control and pushed Shuuya down, causing him to cry and increasing his punishment.

Sure, maybe he did feel bad about it after a few days (he had made it a point to not be as rough with Shuuya as he was with others; he was just so fragile and naive that he was afraid that even a little shove would break him completely), but at the end of it all, Seto was still the one who got slapped, beaten and banned from food for the following week. Usually, that sort of punishment was only given to the worse offenses that the children could commit; breaking property, stealing, fighting, ( _drowning animals..._ ) etc. But for him, the orphanage's resident dangerous, wild, out of control creature, it was his regular punishment for even the most minor rule-breaking.

 _Tch, whatever._ Seto supposed it really was his own fault: that's what he got for trusting someone else to have his back. He hadn't even asked Shuuya to use his power to transform into him in order to fool the caretakers, just that he not say anything and open the window for him when he snuck back inside once morning came. For the first time ever, Seto had felt a stab of actual betrayal when the adults found him in the forest and forced him back 'home,' telling him on the way that Shuuya had actively sought them out and told them where he had run off to. The feeling had been terrible, blisteringly deep and disappointing - almost too much to handle. Not wanting to make that mistake again, he refused to speak directly to Shuuya anymore and swore to treat him like any other orphaned nobody he came across.

For a while, Shuuya didn't try to speak with him either. Seto could only hope it was out of guilt. Once they got adopted together, though, Shuuya seemed to have taken it as a sign that they could now go back to their previously tolerant relationship, having probably forgotten all about the incident. _I won't though,_ Seto promised himself as he continued to pull away from the other boy as much as he could.

Luckily, Shuuya (after only a few 'Stop-Talking-To-Me-Or-I'll-Beat-You-Up' threats growled his way) finally seemed to be getting it again. He spent more and more of his time latched onto their other family members.

 _Feh, good riddance,_ Seto would think each night as they slept in their room in silence, not missing Shuuya's night-time stories at all.

("Why not? It'll be fun! Come onnn."

"Can't you just bother Tsubomi about it instead of me? Look, there she is."

"What are the two of you speaking about? If it involves anything appalling or vulgar, I absolutely refuse to participate.")

Aah, Tsubomi.

Seto hadn't truly known her until the Tateyamas adopted them. One of the only times they had ever interacted before then that he particularly remembered was once when she confronted him behind the orphanage, right in the middle of him breaking the arm of one of the worse bullies in the area. She had spoken with (read: berated) him for a few minutes, calling him a mindless brute at least once per breath. For all of her high talk, however, she had run away the moment when Seto started barking at her to mind her own business. She had left so fast that he thought she had actually disappeared. Turns out she had.

He couldn't really complain though. Unlike what Shuuya would've done, it seemed Tsubomi didn't tell anyone as Seto never got any form of punishment for it (none of the bullies would ever admit that such a small-looking boy could hurt them, so the only times Seto would get in trouble for beating them half to death was whenever he got sloppy enough to get caught or whenever the orphanage headmaster was feeling especially unkind and presumptuous.)

They had had only small, insignificant encounters after that. Most of them consisted with her turning her nose up at him and making under-the-breath comments whenever they were forced to be in the same room together, then disappearing whenever he tried to yell at her for it. In hindsight, it was probably for the best that she was so flighty and spineless; unlike some of the other boys in the orphanage, Seto had no reservations about hitting girls (he did have a slight aversion to fighting younger kids, though.)

All that he ever got to know about her was that she was a monster like him and Shuuya. That, plus the rumor that her parents might have been rich before they died and left her stranded in an orphan's hellhole like the rest of them. Now that he had the true fortune of living within close proximity to her, Seto definitely knew that she used to be rich.

To him, Tsubomi may very well have been the haughtiest girl currently alive. Her attitude from before they moved into the Tateyama house hadn't changed at all, in fact, Seto was fairly sure that she was amplifying how stuck-up she could be. Her manners and speech were so impeccably perfect, her walking so prim and dainty, the way she could look at nearly anything and respond with politeness, yet think thoughts so heavy with disgust baffled Seto senseless. As a result, it wasn't such a secret that he was glad they found one way to faze her.

When Shuuya somehow came to the conclusion that the way Seto preferred to be called by his old surname was cool, he tried calling himself "Kano" and her "Kido" one day. The response - " _NEVER use my family's name in such a loose and disrespectful way again, Shuuya-san!"_ \- she gave him was pretty funny, Seto could admit. He almost felt bad for Shuuya, who now always used their first names no matter what.

Seto was not Shuuya though, and while the two of them still went out of their ways to not interact with the other, there were times when he couldn't help but call her 'Kido' just to see her reaction, which ranged from apathy to outrage and all those other wonderful emotions in between. Sometimes, when he was feeling even more spiteful than usual, he would upgrade the nickname to 'Kido-hime' just because he could.

Oooh boy, the resulting argument and inevitable fight they would have always got so out of hand that they needed to be separated. Still, as long as she acted in the hyper-snobbish way she did, Seto didn't think he would ever have a reason to quit picking fights with her, no matter how long the lecture Ayaka and Kenjirou would give him later was.

("What's all the ruckus about, you three? I'm trying to work, you know."

"Ayaka-san! Shuuya-san and Kousuke-san are talking about unsavory things!"

"We are not! I'm trying to take a nap here; Shuuya's the one bugging me about watching some weird show."

"It looks cool! I think it's an anime about magic card games or something! If you would just watch with me Kousuke-"

"Not on your life."

"Tsubomi?"

"I apologize, Shuuya-san, but I do not think it looks like the type of programming that would appeal to me."

"O-okaa-san...?"

"Super sorry, kiddo. I got a lot of research to do right now. Next time for sure."

"Oh.."

"Yo, why are you looking so blue down there? I'll watch it with you Shuuya."

"Ahhhh, thanks otou-san!")

His new 'parents' were nice enough, he supposed, even though Seto knew right from the start they hadn't adopted them out of love and refused to delude himself otherwise.

If someone were to ask him, he would honestly say that he preferred Kenjirou. Mainly because he had bought all three of them cell phones within their first week in the household, and that most of the few conversations he shared with the man didn't drift into scientific babble like Ayaka's fewer conversations with him so often did. Kenjirou was laid back, calm and usually let them be whenever they needed space (in Seto's case, A LOT of space), and that was definitely something he could appreciate. The lame winks were even starting to grow on him a tiny bit, not that he would ever admit it, among many other things.

Ayaka, on the other side... was always trying her very best to be a good parent, Seto would give her that. Half of the time she was too busy with her work to spend time with them. Because of this, she spent the other half overcompensating for it and spent too much time with them; once on one of her rare off-days she had made them all spend at least four hours doing nothing but sit around and listen to weird old children's stories from her hometown. While Shuuya seemed to have enjoyed every second of it and Tsubomi at least had the decency to put up with it for appearances' sake, Seto couldn't recall any other time when he so badly wanted to knock himself out in order to escape the crushing boredom.

However, despite how most of her attempts to bond with her three new kids usually fell completely flat on Seto and often didn't stick with him like she wanted, Ayaka still gave a hell of a lot more consideration and warmth than any of the previous adults that had been placed in charge of him had ever given. So, albeit very begrudgingly, Seto indeed would indeed choose overzealousness over neglect nine times out of ten.

All in all, as long as Seto was able to force his power to stop whenever they started thinking about 'studying the science behind their eye-abilities' or wherever that topic led to, he found he could tolerate the pair easily enough. Not enough to call them 'okaa-san' or 'otou-san' of course, but enough be want to erase all his horrible memories of the orphanage staff and instead insert their faces into his brain whenever the word 'guardians' popped up.

Huh... maybe Seto could stand his new family after all-

("Ayano onee-chan! Come watch with us too."

"Yeah, we'll fill you in on the plot. Unless you want to tell Ayano the summary details yourself, Seto."

"Grrr. I told you, I'm not watching it or anything, I just don't wanna move from my spot here."

"Haha, fine, fine. So how about it Ayano?"

"Ummm..."

"Ayano?"

"Uhhh.."

"Oneeeeee-chan."

"I-"

"Arrgh, just say something already! I already know you wanna watch it. Just say it already!"

"Huwahh!"

"O-onee-chan, wait!"

" _Kousuke,_ use your indoor voice. Please apologize to her later."

"Whatever.")

Wait, no. It was only his _onee-chan_ that still had him on edge.

On the outside, Ayano was a shy, withdrawn girl who liked superhero comics even though she herself had no courage what-so-ever. There were times when she barely had enough backbone to talk to Seto, Shuuya, and Tsubomi on a daily basis, much less do anything really fun or exciting with them. She did have the capacity of being somewhat sweet though and treated them nicely enough on good days. Seto would probably be right if he guessed Shuuya was her favorite.

However, on the inside (which Seto had the unfortunate privilege to see), she was _scarily_ curious and perceptive. Apparently, their parents never told her the real reason they adopted the three orphans. Or maybe she was still too polite to ask even after all this time. Seto suspected it was actually both reasons.

While he didn't know when exactly it had started during these past few weeks, it had gotten to the point where Ayano was never not watching them. Constantly waiting for the times when Tsubomi's presence grew so faint that it was like she wasn't even there, or when Shuuya would literally turn into the people on TV for just one flickering second, or when Seto would subtly react to her thoughts despite his best attempts to appear indifferent at all times, or whenever _any_ hint of red surfaced within their eyes... yeah, Seto was definitely on high guard.

Who would've guessed that a weak girl like Ayano could be so good at hiding an armor-piercing stare behind a timid look? While Shuuya and Tsubomi didn't see it and were none the wiser to their big sister's feelings, Seto could practically smell her suspicion and could actually hear it.

 _What are they? They're human right? How can they do these things? It's impossible, no matter how I look at it, people just can't do these things! Or can they? Could I learn how to do them too? Are otou-san and okaa-san totally sure it's okay to have them here? What if they're dangerous?! What ARE they-?_

It made Seto want to scream and punch and kick and yell all at the same time. He felt furious - furious for Shuuya and Tsubomi who had no idea how they were being thought of, even though they weren't his friends. It just wasn't fair; they had all made a silent agreement between themselves to keep their powers hidden and at least somewhat secret. All three of them were trying so hard to carry it out, only to have this girl waiting to catch them using their eyes at any possible chance she got, but still didn't have the guts to tell it to their faces.

 _Just tell us we're freaks already!_

* * *

Soon enough, Ayano did.

* * *

"…um, w-why do you guys have red eyes?" she asked abruptly whilst playing dolls with Tsubomi one day, who stiffened upon hearing the question. Shuuya and Seto immediately snapped their heads toward the girls, ignoring the show they- _Shuuya_ was watching. (Seto just happened to have been in the same room when it came on, as always.)

"Pardon, Ayano-san?" Tsubomi said, not looking away from her doll.

"Uh, yeah. What was that, onee-chan?" Shuuya joined in, forced smile stretching wide. Seto stayed quiet, already dreading where Ayano's thoughts were headed. From what he could hear, they were headed fast.

"You, ah, y-you all heard me! Why do you have red eyes? " Ayano asked again with an assertiveness Seto didn't think she could've possibly owned. She stared at them hard and accusingly, causing Shuuya to clam up for once and go silent.

Tsubomi clutched the little, plastic person tighter. "What do you mean? Our eyes aren't red; mine are black, Shuuya-san's are yellow, and Kousuke-san's are gold."

"Liar!" Without warning, Ayano snatched the doll out of Tsubomi's hands. "Your eyes are red right now!" She brushed the hair (which was still growing out of the short, choppy cut that the orphanage had made all the girls wear) out of Tsubomi's face and forced her to look up. Her sister's eyes blinked shakily, horror dawning in them.

They were a scared, flickering red.

Both Kousuke and Shuuya could see the painstakingly familiar color from where they were. By now they had stood up, the flashy show forgotten behind them as they watched the scene unfold, breath rigid and bodies tense. _T-Tsubomi's supposed to be the best at keeping her power under control. I think this is the first time I've ever seen her eyes go red without her wanting them to_ _..._ he hears Shuuya think next to him. Kousuke's glare at Ayano intensified.

"Tell me now!"

"We... we, well- our eyes..." Man, Tsubomi looked like she was about to either start hyperventilating or faint or both. For the very first moment of them knowing each other, Seto felt pity for the snobbish, annoying, panicking girl. "They- they're like this because we, _because we_ -"

Sputtering and pale-faced, Tsubomi disappeared right then and there, right in front of them. Ayano shrieked and stumbled back. Seconds passed and Seto could tell that Tsubomi had fled the room, her hysterical thoughts fading from his mind and out through the open living room door.

Ayano turned towards her brothers and started yelling in fright. "A-a-and that! What Tsubomi-chan just did there! How did she do that? She just vanished into thin air! D-don't try to pretend like she didn't―no matter how hard you guys try to hide it, okaa-san and otou-san and I all know you have powers!"

Seto grit his teeth and pressed at his temples, the swelling red behind his eyes beginning to feel painful. Shuuya looked down at his feet, smile completely gone.

"Please!" Ayano was begging now. "Okaa-san and otou-san won't tell me what's going on with you guys no matter how I ask! I need to know what you three are, and I want to know it right now. I-I've been a good onee-chan, right?" she started to falter again, her previous bravado beginning to leave her. "So as your onee-chan, tell me! Please, Kousuke-kun! Shuuya! You guys aren't human, right?! You can't be. You're- you... are you monsters or...?"

 _Monster._ The all-too-familiar word struck through both boys right in the heart, chilling the air around them until it froze their blood. Seto instantly looked beside him and, _oh no_ , he was right: Shuuya was already moments away from crying.

"No... no, we're not..." he hiccuped. "We're humans too! We-we are, onee-chan..."

Seto watched Shuuya sniffle and plead, and for a fleeting second, considered reaching out and giving him a pat. Shuuya himself had done this for him a few times, getting up and patting Seto's back on nights when the voices had gotten too hard to bare and were making him toss and turn in his sleep. However much he didn't want to admit it, the pats helped him calm down, even if just a little.

(Shuuya never once told him about it during the following mornings and probably didn't know that Seto was usually awake and aware of it. To this day, he still didn't know why Shuuya did it and still kept doing it even after they stopped talking and Seto began treating him coldly. For once, Shuuya's thoughts didn't give him a clear answer.)

His hand was already starting on it's way to Shuuya's shoulder when the tears did start falling. Shuuya immediately tried to rub away the water dripping out of him, failing miserably. "We're just like the rest of you, we-we're normal too. We're not monsters, please..."

Seto's hand bunched into a fist on its way back to his side, bitterly remembering that Ayano was still there. _She's the cause of this._

"Wa-wait, Shuuya, I- I didn't mean to say it like that. I just, just-!" Ayano tried to calm down her brother by bringing his hands away from his face, only to flinch back the moment he opened his eyes.

They were a sad, hazy red.

Ayano took a step away and brought a hand up to her mouth as she got her first good look at his eyes in their natural state. "This is impossible. How in the world... You can't be real..."

Shuuya's tears flowed faster and he began to tremble. Before their very eyes, his form began to flicker in and out, taking on the appearances of different people one by one until he was lost under a myriad of faces and body parts that weren't his own.

"No, no! Stop!" Shuuya cried at himself, his voiced warped as several other voices came out with it.

Their older sister gasped and raised her other arm up in front of her as if to protect herself from Shuuya's illusions, her attempt at an apology completely abandoned.

 _Pathetic,_ Seto thought and for once it wasn't directed at the weeping boy who had run behind him in order to hide his changing self.

God, it felt as if someone was lighting a match deep inside his stomach. Except, instead of lighting a flame, it was lighting up anger, causing the pain in Seto's head to grow sticky and hot from the wrath coursing through him. Before he knew it, his emotions were boiling up and exploding out of his core. Immediately they seized him, and now there was no stopping himself. He closed his eyes, walked in front of Ayano, squared his shoulders, and opened them again.

They were a hateful, scalding red.

She gulped and shivered before him. Seto didn't even need his power to know she was afraid. _Serves her damn right._

"Shuuya's wrong, you're right Ayano. It is because we're monsters," Seto snarled before pushing her down in a surge of rage. This time he wouldn't feel any guilt at all, he'd make sure of it. "And we _always_ will be."

Without another word, he stormed out of the room and then out the front door, not looking back to see how frightened and pitiable Ayano looked from the floor and ignoring Shuuya's tearful "KOUSUKE WAIT!"

Seto's forceful stride soon turned into a heated run, and it wasn't until minutes of unbroken sprinting later that he suddenly realized he was heading in the direction of the city. Too angry to even try turning his power off, the voices in his mind were already starting to double, then triple, then quadruple. He didn't stop, knowing it would be easier to ignore a hundred voices than that one awful girl's thoughts.

It was Saturday: Ayaka and Kenjirou were out working and wouldn't be back until later. _Good._

He was running into the streets faster and faster now, even though he knew for a fact that he could outrun all three of his siblings combined.

 _Siblings._ Seto wanted to vomit at the word. _I'm an idiot._ He should have known that a family was just too good of a dream to be true for the monster that he was. Not that a monster would want one anyway.

 _I almost thought it could work out too…_

Seto shook his head, freeing his mind only of his own thoughts and going faster as the buildings around him grew taller, fully intending to run away.

Monsters didn't cry, and Seto Kousuke was definitely not crying.


	3. A Ten-Year-Old Runaway

The autumn wind breezed lightly on the city sidewalks, blowing fallen leaves along with them. They swirled together gracefully, creating pretty, miniature tornados... which were all destroyed in instants as a small boy raged against the wind. By now, the boy himself had forgotten the original reason why he was running in the first place. All he knew was that as more and more of the city's voices piled into his mind, the faster he needed to run.

It was deafening; the whispers, the screams. The laughing, the weeping, the yelling, and it was all at him. All at him. He knew. It made him want to cut off his ears, pull out the monster's eyes; to destroy himself to make them just shut up.

 _Be quiet already! Don't you know that I get it?! You hate me! Everyone hates me! I hate me too! But not as much as_ I _hate you! So just shut up!_

 _Shutupshutupshutup!_

 _..._

 _P-please shut u-_

His foot skidded on a crack and he tripped, smashing face first onto concrete. He picked himself up grittily, growling at anyone who offered him help. Instead of tending to the swelling bruise on his cheek, he smacked at the pounding swell deep inside his eyes.

 _Go away monster... go away..._

As if in response, even more voices came to knock on his shaking mind. He grasped his forehead in pain. " _Urgh! GO AWAY!"_

He couldn't take this anymore, he couldn't. If he stood here any longer, the world would _suffocate_ him with its hate. He _NEEDED_ a way out. A place to breathe. Away from everything. He turned his head, changed his direction, and began running again.

run, _Run_ , RUN-

-and never look back.

* * *

The small boy with black hair clad in a white-hoodie eventually slowed his blind sprint down to a stiff trudge. He had lost the human voices hours ago and felt nothing but relief the moment he heard the sounds of the forest. With a few exceptions (hamsters and rabbits were _freaky_ ), it was much quieter than where he had come from. A lot less judging too. More like a home than he'd ever had.

 _That's not true,_ a voice spoke to him amidst the humming of the trees. _H_ _is_ voice. He squashed it down.

He had come to this forest regularly before his adoption, often at any chance he could. He always returned to the orphanage eventually though, always to more punishment and bullying. Why it took him so long to decide to just run into the woods and not return was beyond him at the moment. He was alone, finally, so could finally turn off his pow-

 _-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP-_

He startled and almost ran head-first into a tree, sending birds flying. ' _Dumb human!'_ he heard them think, his not yet power turned off. He looked around frantically, searching for whatever could be making that noise-

Oh. Wait. That. He hastily reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Crap," he cursed. Had he really not noticed it buzzing this whole time? Or was Ayano really so much of a dummy that she hadn't thought of calling him until hours after he ran away?

 _Doesn't matter_. He turned it off. He supposed he ought to probably return this, just out of his better conscience.

 _..._ but, that would mean going back to where civilization and their awful minds were. _Yeah, n_ _o. Sorry, Kenjirou._

He'd need a phone anyway, right? For wherever he was going to?

...

Where _was_ he going to? Back to the orphanage? The thought of it made him want to throw himself off a cliff, or worse, into the river. _They'd just send me back to the Tateyamas anyway. Maybe I could just stay here..._ But if he did that, he should have brought more things along than just the clothes on his back, not that he had planned any of this, of course. What about food and water? Heck, where would he stay? No matter how much he'd like to, it didn't seem probably that he could live in a forest all by himself for so long. Shoot, this was really looking bad-

"AH!" he yelled at the growing headache throbbing steadily behind his eyes. His terrible, stupid eyes. He pushed all other worries away; the only thing that mattered right now was turning off his power.

Taking a deep breathe and concentrating on words like _quiet_ , _alone_ , _safe..._

 _"...Hanako._.."

 _..._ little by little, the animalistic chatter in the background slowed, dimmed, and disappeared. Finally, he was alone and calm, deep in the confines of his own mind.

His eyes turned back yellow.

So yellow, in fact, that he didn't hear her coming towards him at all.

 _"Seto?"_


	4. Weirdo

_A/N: Sorry this came out a little later than I had hoped. Writers block is mean like that._

* * *

Seto whirled around sharply. To his astonishment, he turned to face a girl. Not just any girl, the _strangest_ girl he had ever seen.

She stared at him with a gaping mouth, shock radiating from her eyes. Her _pink_ eyes, which, while very outlandish, wasn't nearly as so as her _white_ hair, which was cut short at neck-length in the back, but left two long tresses in the front. The tresses seemed to turn dark at the ends, almost black.

She looked at least a few years older than Ayano, yet wasn't much taller than Seto. Her frilly dress was the same shade of blue as Ayaka's hairclips. Her skin was eerily pale, lighter than even her hair. She was really pretty.

The two of them stood several ways apart, and time seemed to slow as they gazed at each other, Seto in discomfort, the girl in awe.

It was so weird; he didn't know what to think. Or feel. Everything about her seemed so surreal, yet familiar. Was this strange girl even here, or just another trick his awful eyes were playing on him?

He couldn't bring his feet to move, to run, and her staring and the silence between them grew too much for him to handle.

"W...who are you?!" Seto demanded, trying to put some bite in the last word. Could he intimidate her into going away, like he did with most other people? "What do you want?"

It seemed to snap her out of her staring. "I- ...I can't believe I found you..." she murmured loud enough for his ears to pick up, ignoring his questions. "I _can't_ believe I finally found you! Seto..."

"Wha- what?" Seto sputtered. What did she mean? "How do you know my name?!"

She continued talking as if he hadn't spoken. "After so many _years_ , so many _dreams_ , and I've actually..."

She looked him up and down, and Seto sqirmed under her gaze.

"Mmm, you look a bit younger than in the dreams though... how peculiar," she mused aloud. "But it's still you. I _know_ it is!"

Sweat started to form at Seto's temple. His childlike mind filled with dread, trying to make sense of her words. He swallowed, only then noticing the dry lump formed in his throat.

"Listen, I... I think you're mistaken," he tried. "I've never seen you before, and I have no clue about what you're saying. So, uh, I'm just going to-"

The girl walked a few steps towards Seto, who in turn, walked a few steps back.

"Out, out of all the people I saw in those dreams, your name was the only one I ever heard. Heh, now, I guess it makes sense, since you're the first one I've found." Her eyes drilled into his own and she advanced further.

Seto's legs tried to retreat faster, and ended up stumbling on a rock while doing so. He landed onto his back with a _thud_. He realized that this really wasn't a bad dream. There really was a crazy white-haired girl stalking towards him.

Making no move to help him up, she bent down for a better look; hands resting on her knees. Her smile was one that might have been seen as creepy to some, except for Seto, who found it strangely gentle; he couldn't tear his eyes away. Gazing up into her rosy irises, he felt something somewhat akin to fear start to flow through his veins, yet he didn't panic or start yelling. Almost as if a part of him _wanted_ to be near her. Bizare.

"I thought this day might never come, you know?" she said quietly, tone almost identical to the soothing whisper Ayaka used whenever she told them stories. This time however, Seto heard a subtle shake of disbelief hidden underneath her whisper.

"One winter passed. Then another, and another. Until I could count to one hundred with them." A hollow sounding laugh escaped her pale lips. "There were times when I thought I'd just keep searching the world forever, that I'd never find any of you. The dreams always kept me going, but still..."

"I'm so happy now though!" she exclaimed with sudden joy. "I _**did**_ it, I _found_ you!"

She jumped up and skipped a little. Seto took it as time to breathe; he hadn't noticed that he had been holding it in. This was bad, this was _bad_. It was just his luck to run into a crazy person on the one day he ran away wasn't it? Yet, Seto still couldn't find it in himself to run away. Her voice was calming, somehow. And it wasn't as if she had attacked him or anything... (yet)

As if on que, the white-haired girl paused her little inner celebration. She snapped her head back down to Seto and locked her eyes onto his once more. A wicked realization dawned in her pink orbs.

"If you are here, that, that means the others have to be close by too, right?!" she asked ferverishly.

"I-I-...um, uh," he sputtered stupidly. Seto wanted to smack himself for it, _why couldn't he talk?_ What was it about this girl that wouldn't let him run?

"M-maybe?" he settled with. He still had no idea who 'the others' were. _Tsubomi...Shuuya?_

"Oh, this is just wonderful!" she shouted in delight, eyes wild.

Suddenly she reached down to him, grabbing his smaller hand in her own and yanked him to his feet. Beginning to walk in the direction out of the woods, she roughly tugged Seto along. He was still too dumbfounded by all she was to protest.

"Come on, let's go back the way you came. You have to bring me to all of them! Once everyone of us is together we can track down the snake-man dressed in white and _finally kill h_ -"

 _Go back? To the city? To where the evil voices were?_

No.

Way.

Seto violently twisted his hand out of her grasp. Her words had snapped him back to his senses at last.

She turned around, wide-eyed with confusion. "What are you doing-?"

"Y-you're crazy! _Get away from me!_ " Seto yelled into her face before running deeper into the woods as fast as he could, like he should have done the moment he saw her.

He blindly threw himself through the trees, desperate to lose the girl, who he could hear was chasing after him.

"SETO! Seto stop! _Please_ wait! Come back! _Seto_ \- _**I** **AM** __**NOT GOING TO LOSE YOU RIGHT** **AFTER** **FINDING** **YOU!** "_

Seto ignored her screaming with a hardened heart. It didn't matter; she was just another girl like Ayano and Tsubomi. She didn't had a chance of catching up to him in a million years. He was faster than most _grownups_ afterall. Losing one insane girl would be no problem.

He turned his head around a little just to see how far away she was.

He nearly wet himself in result.

She wasn't that far behind _at all._ More like so close that she was almost touching his  back! _How was she running so fast?!_

"I said keep away from me!" he yelled into the wind and forced his burning legs to move quicker, dodging tree after bush, bush after tree, jumping over streams. She did the same; always only a few leaps behind him.

"NO! I've searched way too far and for much too long! I will **not** let you get away! I-I admit, I should have introduced myself better. I understand now. Let me try again! Seto! Please, just stop and listen!"

He was immune to her pathetic pleas. "Never!"

"...then I'm really sorry for this, but you give me no choice. You are going to stop, even if I have to _make_ you."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, YOU STALKER?!"

He found out soon after.

Having just said that, he heard the girls footsteps behind him seem to cease. For a relived moment Seto thought that she had given up chasing him.

His relief turned to confusion as he heard the air _whoosh_ behind him. Suddenly, a second shadow on the ground appeared, quickly overtaking his own.

Finally, his confusion turned to horror (or perhaps amazement) when he realized that the shadow was _hers_. He looked up to see the frills of her dress flutter above his head.

With the same strength as an Olympic athlete, she had _jumped_ over him, clearing at least ten metres. And with a bird-like grace, she landed only a few paces away from Seto crashing into her.

As Seto's stunned mind registered what had happened, his feet instinctively started to change course in a desperate jerk. Before he could turn however, the crazy girl surged forward, grabbed his head in her hands and brought him right up to her face, forcing him to look into her eyes.

They were a hateful, scalding red.

Just like his.


	5. Bravery, Breaking, and Repairing

Red eyes. Just like his. And he was staring straight into them.

Big mistake.

Immediately, Seto felt as if a switch in his brain had been flipped off. His entire body literally clamped up and stiffened. He couldn't move at all. Not even shake. His hands, legs, arms, his everything refused to move, no matter how his mind panicked and _screamed to run_.

He was limp. Helpless. All he could do was look in astonishment at the freakish girl. Who it seemed now, was also his fellow red-eyed monster.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, as if she was tired. Or maybe just sad.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry for having to do that," she apologized, red eyes downcast.

"I promised myself that I would never use that power unless I had to. But you didn't give me a choice!" She looked at him poutedly, as if this was all his doing.

"So I think you owe me now; just hear me out."

Seto's fingers twitched and he felt her red eyes' effect on him slowly creep away. But when feeling returned to his body fully, before he could even make a move to try and dash for it again, the girl grabbed his shoulders and leaned in. Her irises were pink once more. Seto tried but couldn't look away, once more getting lost in them.

"Don't misunderstand Seto. As much as I hate my power, I'll use it a hundred times, again and again if you run." Her voice was low, yet on level with gunfire.

Seto tensed; her eyes gleamed.

"Please. Just listen, okay?" She let go of his shoulders.

Seto instantly took a big step away from her, but didn't make any moves to run. Yet he shifted on his feet, very much wanting to. He eyed the girl, who only now seemed to be waiting patiently for a response.

After a few moments of silence, Seto scoffed to himself. There really was no point of trying to come up with an escape plan was there? Not when those eyes of hers could literally control his movements.

Seto gave in. And even then, he still fought.

"Just why exactly should I listen to you?" he asked harshly. "Or believe _anything_ you say?! For all I know, you're probably just a kidnapping stalker."

"I'm not, I'm not I promise!" she insisted.

"Just what a _stalker_ would say," Seto sneered tersely. It didn't faze her like he wanted.

"You _felt_ me freeze you, right? That's my power, the _Locking Eyes_. and you have one just like me, Seto. You can read minds, the _Stealing Eyes_. I've seen you do it in the dreams."

Seto's breath hiked. She knew about that too? _How_ could she know that too? And _in her dreams again...?_

When he didn't reply, she took the chance to continue. She took a deep breath, as if bracing herself for her next words.

"My name is Kozakura Mary. I am a descendant from a family of medusas."

"When I was fourty, I died and received the Locking Eyes. The first night I slept after that, I had a dream about you and six others. Day after day, the dream never ended."

'Mary' gritted her teeth and the tresses obscured her eyes. "In every single one, a person controlling white snakes comes and kills every single one of you, and I _never_ succeed no matter how hard I try to save you all."

Seto took step back without realizing it; her voice was oozing with hate. He _really_ wanted to run.

It took Mary a moment or two to unfurl her clenched fists. She looked back up to him, and her expression softened.

"And that's why I've been searching for the seven of you for the past one hundred years. In the dreams he only comes once we are all together. Don't you see? I need to be with you all so I can finally kill the white-snake-man in real life, and end these dreams once and for all."

Once finished, she stared at him hopefully, as if her explanation had blown out all his doubts.

Seto himself couldn't even move his mouth, despite Mary's eyes still being sakura coloured.

Had, had he really just heard all that? Medusas? _One hundred years?!_ His head spiraled with disbelief.

"You really are insane, aren't you?" he muttered, loud enough for Mary to hear.

With a sigh Mary started again. "No. Everything I've told you is true. I can prove it! Use your power. _See_ that the dreams are real."

 _What?_

Seto's eyes widened. He swallowed thickly.

"No way. Absolutely no chance in _hell_." He tried to sound steady and strong, yet he could feel his voice begin to crack.

Mary almost looked sympathetic. "It's okay, I understand not wanting to use these powers. But if so, you have to just believe me. I'm doing this to save you all!"

"Heh. Sounds to me like you just want to do it for yourself and get rid of your dreams," he growled like an angry dog. "Liar."

Mary smiled solemmly, undazed. "Believe it or not, but I suppose I've grown attached to the seven of you, watching you all everynight. Focusing Eyes, Captivating Eyes, Favouring Eyes, Deceiving, Concealing..."

 _Shuuya and Tsubomi._ So she was telling the truth.

Seto shook off those thoughts.

"Uh... well whatever! Who cares if you like the weird people in your weird dreams? If even any of what you're saying is true?! It still makes no sense at all. It doesn't mean a thing to me."

For once, Mary looked annoyed. "Of course it means something! The dreams, our eyes, the fact that I actually found you right now!" She gestured wildly, as if he'd believe her if she flailed hard enough.

"Don't you see? We are the same, you and I. We're connected; all of us. It means you can trust me! So, _please_ , take me to the others!"

Frustration bubbled up inside him. Is this really her final reason? Ugh. _She's just like Shuuya._

"Yeah? So what! Just because we're both freaky monsters doesn't mean I trust you! You're not my friend! No matter what you say!" It felt good to yell again, after keeping his true thoughts silent for so long.

His words managed to indeed shock Mary this time, but before she could answer, Seto cut in and kept going.

"Even if we were friends, e-even if you were family! If Tsubomi and Shuuya, _any_ of them were family even! I'd still _never_ go back to that house, to that terrible place!" He was so tired and angry. At everything. For nearly his entire life. And the anger just kept biting him.

"...But, _why_?" Her voice was light with concern.

"B-because... because-," his chest heaves. Before he really realizes it, the storm inside him breaks free of the gates.

"BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE AWFUL!" he screamed. It made his his throat scratch and burn, but he didn't care. He looked Mary dead in the eye. Her pink ones were as wide as saucers, and his were practically already burning a bright red. Her mind was his book to read, but he didn't care too. And he couldn't stop.

"All of them! They lie, cheat, steal, and think the most evil things! They'll make fun of you wherever you try to run and escape! They hate you if you're a monster like me!"

 _'Like us...'_

"They care about no one but themselves! They're selfish, rotten, _evil!_ For hell's sake, they'd _drown helpless animals_ and then not care about it _at all_ afterwards!"

 _'Oh, Seto...'_

"They're all so bad, but they won't go _away_ , _their thoughts won't go away!_ Like you said, I can hear them think; so _I_ have to go away instead. And now that I'm out, I'm never going back, you hear? Sorry, but you'll have to find your stupid dream people on your own. I'm _not_ going back. I hate them. Every single one of them."

 _'Me too?'_

"I'm not gonna stick around any longer just to see them destroy each other, and hate each other, and-

 _'Hurt you.'_

"And- and-d, I...ugh!" He had run out of words; his mouth reduced to blabber. He had done it: finally put his feelings into words instead of fists like Ayaka had lectured him about. She had been wrong. It still felt terrible.

To top it all off, Mary was still thinking. _'Oh my...what do I do? I-I have to help_ _him. But how? Oh, okaa-san...'_

He grabbed at his forehead in frustration, pushing down on his ears hard. His breathes came out ragged as he tried to calm himself. It was just like it was back then, when he was seven and desperate to shut out the voices. He was so wrapped up in his own head, he almost forgot Mary was only a few steps away, staring at him in overwhelming concern.

She tried to stretch a comforting hand towards him. She spoke at last. "Seto-"

He had had enough.

"Just shut up! SHUT UP PLEASE! No more, _no more_ , I can't take it..."

Seto shut his eyes and swung his head away from her. But he was too slow and she too quick. Her outstretched hand swiped softly at his cheek before he knew it. He opened his eyes. Her hand was wet.

He was crying.

 _He was crying._

No.

No, no, no.

He wasn't! He couldn't! He wasn't a baby! He wasn't 'crybaby Kousuke' like they had all said he was! Not infront of her! HE WASN'T!

Just like that, he could hear the teasing again, the taunts again, as if those awful children were right next to him, tossing Hanako in...

The tears were falling down his chin faster now, and he was fully aware of it. Desperate to make them stop, to just stop, Seto scratched at his eyes violently, not caring if he ripped them out. A monster like him wouldn't mind.

In doing so, he didn't hear Mary gasp. Nor could he stop her from surging forward, pining his arms above his head onto a tree.

"Seto! Please stop! Please, I beg you!" she pleaded, tears of her own ready to fall out.

"Get away! Don't touch me! I don't want anything to do with you or these eyes ever again!" he screamed from deep within his lungs. He struggled against her steel grip; tears flowing hot.

"No! I care about you! For the past one hundred years I have! So I'm not going to leave you in this pain. Never."

She suddenly let go of his arms. Seto would have used this fleeting moment to try and run again, no matter what power she had.

Would have, if Mary had not immediately wrapped her arms around him in an unescapable hug.

Seto struggled still, but as he was finding out more and more, he was never as strong as he wanted. Defeated and exhausted, he forcibly resigned himself to the hug, his chest heaving and his burning tears falling into Mary's soft white hair. By some miracle, he calmed down.

She was so warm, the frills of her dress soft against his hoodie, her tresses tickling his neck. If Seto was honest with himself, he'd want to stay there in her comforting, strong arms forever. Unconsciously he nuzzled in deeper with closed eyes. Soon enough, he was hugging back.

"The world isn't so bad, you know," she whispered at long last. "You've probably only seen the bad side of it, and I'm so sorry for that. But I've been walking this world for a very long time. There _is_ good out there. People _can_ treat monsters kindly. They can. Let me show you."

Before Seto could protest, she began to think directly at him. As he was in no emotinal condition to properly turn off his power, his eyes shot open as Mary's new thoughts poured in. Or perhaps, old memories.

A little boy offering her an apple.

A couple inviting her to stay at their inn for the night.

Numerous others giving her money in exchange for a song or a knit item.

Hundreds of people helping her out as the decades pass by.

It shocked him at just how pleasant the memories were. It couldn't be true, right? Could people really be this kind?

The very last memory was of a woman, with red eyes as well and even longer white hair yelling in the rain to come back, _Mary come back_ -

Mary arruptedly shook her head, as if to force the memory out. It ended quickly, before Seto could really make any sense of it. He forgot soon enough; all of them left him reeling.

"Woah..."

"I take that you got all that?"

"Yeah..." He murmured into the wet patch on her shoulder. He had stopped crying suddenly.

Mary smiled into his shoulder in turn. "Good. Just, whatever happened to you in the past, it doesn't matter. It's alright. So please, just don't cry."

"..."

Several moments passed of nothing but them cuddling in the other's arms. As crazy as it sounded, Seto still didn't want to let go.

"You know, out of all the others I've seen in the dreams, you were always my favourite," Mary mused, still hugging onto him.

"...why?" he heard himself say, geniunely curious.

"Because, because you loved everyone so much."

Seto stared into space, unbelieving.

"...huh."

"Heh. It's true! In each dream, _each_ _one_ , you're the first out of all of them to fight back against the man with the white snakes. The first one to protect everyone else. To protect me." Her voice grew quieter with each word so Seto had to strain his ears to hear them.

"...no. No you have me all wrong. I don't love anyone, 'cause no one loves me," he stated as a defiant matter of fact.

She sighed and rubbed against his drying cheek. " _I_ love you; I have for a hundred years."

Seto blinked. Then turned tomato red. "Eh?! Ah-h, d-don't say things like that to someone you've just met! E-especially to someone like me!" He trashed against her arms again, out of embarrassment this time. Mary remained unbreaking and hugged him further.

"Oh, Seto," she giggled. "Fine, I _like_ you because you're so brave. So ready to devote yourself to everyone you care about."

"No, I'm a coward!" He shouted weakly. "I-I'm not brave at all. You saw me cry; I'm nothing but a crybaby monster." His arms dug harder into her waist.

"Oh no. No, to me, you are the bravest person out there. An amazing boy no matter how you show it. I'm a monster, you're the farthest thing from one. I know, I've seen it time and time again."

Mary unwrapped her arms from the hug and reached down to clasp his hands in hers. Seto missed the hug.

"Believe me, your list of people to care for may be short now, but trust me, it will grow. And, I want to be one of them, if you'll let me. I want to help all of you, so you won't have to be so brave or alone all the time. I want to be your friend."

Seto's heart skipped a beat, his breath hitched. He looked up from their intertwined hands and his lessening red orbs met hers.

' _I_ _mean it with all my heart,'_ he heard from her lovely inner voice, before her mind went silent. With that one thought, Seto's response was sealed. For once, his words and his thoughts were the same.

"Alright. I'll take you to them," he answered definitely.

Mary's eyes lit up and she held his hands tighter and closer. The sheer hope and joy in her face made his head flutter.

"Really?! Seto, you will?"

"Yes, I will. I, don't really want to. But, I'll go back if you'll be my friend. I'll try to... forgive them. All of them." _Ayano too._

"...thank you Seto. Oh, thank you so much! You don't know what this means to me. To all of us."

Mary hugged him a second time, and Seto closed his now yellow eyes to cherish it. To his disappointment though, she let go much quicker this time.

"The city is this way, right?" Mary called to him, suddenly walking away.

"Yeah." He caught up to her.

"Oh! I'm so excited! You're taking me to Concealing and Deceiving Eyes right?"

"H-how did you know?"

"You three are always together in the dreams," she waved the question off.

"Eh, well you're right then. Shuuya can change himself into anyone he wants. Tsubomi can make herself invisible."

"Shuuya, Tsubomi... what nice names," she said to herself.

Seto found himself thinking about his own name. _Kousuke_...

"Hey, Ma-"

"Oh, I almost forgot," Mary interrupted. Paused from her stride, she dug into her dress pockets. Once she found the item, she held it out to him.

"Here. You dropped this when you were running away. A phone, right?"

It _was_. The phone Kenjirou had given him. Had he really not noticed it had fallen...?

"Ah, yeah it is," Seto rubbed his neck. "Uh thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome." Mary then grabbed his hand and placed the phone in it. He relaxed further when their skins met again.

Only when neither of them let go, did Seto realize how awkward things ought to be. How close she was. How dainty her hand was. Surprising how a thing as little as giving a phone back got him thinking, but not a hug.

Mary only tilted her head and smiled in amusement. His cheeks reddened instead of his eyes and he swiped his sweating hand away. He pocketed the phone in a rush.

"Right, uh, should get going...Mary," he stated, suddenly himself again.

"Hehe. Yes, we should. Lead the way, Seto." She held the hem of her dress and curtzied elegantly. Seto nodded and they were off again.

* * *

After walking for a few minutes, Seto made his decision.

"...Mary."

"Mmm?"

"Uh, um, ehhh..."

"What is it Seto?"

He took in a gulp of air. "Kousuke."

She blinked.

"Uh-"

"My first name is Kousuke," he barked at the sky, gruff like normal. "So, if you're going to be my friend, call me that."

"Are you sur-"

"Yep." He started to walk again, refusing to look at her.

Mary's perplexion turned to warmth. She walked after him in a smile.

She was by his side again rather quickly. " _Kousuke_... I really like it!"

"Eh?! D-don't go getting any ideas okay?! Friends just, call each like that."

"Oh, but don't you like your name too? I mean, you're smiling now! It's the first time I've seen you smile that wasn't during a dream. I like your smile too."

Kousuke blushed for the umpteenth time. "Ahh, keep talking like that and I'll change mind and leave you here in the forest!"

"Aw, you know I can run faster than you, Kousuke."

"We'll see!" With a smirk, he dashed off.

"Kousuke!" With a laugh, Mary chased after him, knowing they were still headed to the city.

Kousuke grunted out his own laugh as he ran.

Running back to the place he swore he would never return to.

But, if his return was with Mary, maybe he would be able to truly be brave this time.

And shut the door on those voices once and for all.

Starting today, he would move forward. Only ever looking back to see Mary catching up to him with the beauty of an angel.

* * *

 _See you, Hanako._


	6. Epiloguing Eyes

_**Just a little wrap-up.**_

* * *

 _"Are you sure you don't want to come inside? I don't think Kenjirou or Ayaka would mind." Kousuke insisted once again to Mary as the little crimson house finally came into view. It was half past midnight already, as their running had turned back into walking a long while ago (Kousuke fervently refused when Mary offered to carry him on her back)._

" _Yes uh, it would be better if I kept myself a secret from normal people right now," Mary assured. "So promise me you won't tell your caregivers about me?" She clasped her hands together in pleading._

 _Kousuke's throat tightened and he was unable to say no. "Fine, but I can tell Shuuya and Tsubomi, right? I'll make sure they keep quiet. And, what about Ayano? She's not one of us, but I don't think she'd have the guts to tell Kenjirou or Ayaka."_

 _Mary pondered and tapped a finger on her cheek. "Well, I supposed that wouldn't hurt anyone, and_ _I wouldn't mind meeting this 'Ayano' girl too."_

 _"If you say so... wait, where will you stay then?" He didn't even try to keep the concern out of his voice._

 _"Don't worry about me Kousuke. As fate would have it, I used to live in a house not too far away from here." She reached into the collar of her dress, pulled out a shiny gold key hanging from some string around her neck, and waved it for him to see._

 _"And now that I know where the three of you live, I'll come back tomorrow to visit you all. We can start properly then. I have plans to help the three of you control your powers." Mary winked good-naturedly. It reminded him of Kenjirou._

 _Ah, and now he was reminded that it was just about time to go home and face Ayaka's motherly wrath. The two of them were standing just a few steps away from the front door. He could hear the two adults inside thinking worried, frantic thoughts._

 _Mary looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finally go inside the red-bricked house._

But... how to say goodbye...

 _"Mary-"_

 _She put a finger to his lips. "Shhh. No more worrying Kousuke. Go home now. I'll be back tomorrow."_

 _"...promise?"_

 _"Yes, I promise." A pretty smile graced the medusa's lips, and Kousuke felt his doubts melt away into thin air._

 _Without another word, (but bashfully returning Mary's wave), he trudged up to the front door._

Knock knock knock, _he banged on it._

 _Kousuke stole one last glance behind him._

 _Mary was gone, leaving behind only an odd windy gust in the still night as proof that she had ever been there._

* * *

"Oh, Kenjirou... where could he have gone? What if something happened to him?! W-what if-"

"Calm down Ayaka. We can't let ourselves panic or things will only get worse." He wasn't doing a very good job of following his own words, however, proven by his constant pacing around the table ( _he was leaving skid marks_ ).

Ayaka stressfully rubbed at her eyes. "How can I not panic Kenjirou? As tough as if tries to appear, Kousuke's just a boy! It's a dangerous place out there. To think that something terrible could happen to him at any moment... w-what was he wearing this morning? Come on, let's call the station again, someone _must have seen him_ -"

 _Knock knock knock._

Both of them froze.

"Ayaka. Kenjirou. Tadaima." A boy's voice called out from the other side of the door, just loud enough to be heard.

With Kenjirou hot at her heels, Ayaka leaped forwards and nearly ripped the door off its hinges.

"K-Kousuke! Oh, _Kousuke_." Ayaka hugged the boy immediately, her voice pure relief. He almost brought himself to return the hug.

She then let go and held him by the shoulders. "Where have you been?! We've been worried sick! Are you hurt?! _What happened?_ "

"..." Kousuke stared at the floor, hood fully down.

"Ayaka, don't be so harsh. He's back now; that's all that matters." Kenjirou came over and embraced the boy himself. Who, once again, almost returned it.

They brought him inside and quickly noticed just how filthy he was. Dirt and mud caked his pants and once bright, white hoodie, and a few leaves flew out when Ayaka pulled his hood off.

"The woods, Kousuke?! You know better than this!" Ayaka sighed to herself. "Quick Kenjirou! Draw a bath and bring him some clean clothes. I'll get him something to eat."

Before both adults could dash off in separate directions, two small hands tugged at their sleeves.

"...Okaa-san... otou-san..." Whispered the small boy who owned the small hands, his yellow eyes looking up at them, albeit shakingly.

His parents stopped in their tracks, their own eyes widening.

"... I'm... sorry... I-I... didn't mean to... run away..."

Ayaka and Kenjirou exchanged surprised expressions. Had Kousuke just apologized? Was this really the young angry boy who, just this morning, refused to even say goodbye when they left for work? What _happened_ out there that changed him so?

However, looking down at the wild boy who now looked much more like a scared, broken child, it didn't matter at all.

"Hey, _hey_ , it's okay, we're not angry at all, Kenjirou and I were just worried, that's all." They both embraced him at the same time. Kousuke, while still uncomfortable, tried his best to hug back for once.

"And now we're just so glad that you're safe. Don't worry at all, you can explain everything tomorrow, right now just go upstairs to your room and wait until Ayaka has your dinner and I have your bath ready."

They received no complaints from their son. But they could've sworn they heard a barely audible 'arigatou' as he climbed the stairs.

* * *

When Kousuke entered the room he and Shuuya shared, he was met with turned on lights, but no Shuuya.

Odd. Normally, Shuuya was immediately by his side the moment he entered a room, and definitely wasn't able to sleep if he wasn't there with him. Maybe he was asleep with Tsubomi and Ayano in their room?

Yeah, that was probably-

 _Thud._

Kousuke snapped his head towards a corner of the room, right past the beds. Hmm, seems a chair had somehow fallen onto its side... but there wasn't anyone else in the room...

Ah. Now he knew. And now he sighed.

"Look you guys, there's no need to hide. I know you're over there under Tsubomi's power."

One beat, two beats, three beats, and suddenly-

"S-Shuuya! D-d-don't!"

"Shuuya-san! Come back here!"

"No way onee-chan, sorry Tsubomi! KOUSUKE!"

-a blond boy in pajamas seemingly burst from thin air and bounded face-first into Kousuke's chest, squeezing him tightly and sobbing into his muddy hoodie. After the initial shock, Kousuke could only pat the slightly taller boy's back awkwardly.

"Ah, hey there, Shuuya, I'm back..."

"And I'm so glad that you're back! That you're safe and okay and that nothing ate you! Onee-chan and Tsubomi were so worried too!"

"I wouldn't say _that_ exactly," came the haughty, prim voice of a green-haired girl who also seemed to pop into existence suddenly. Clad in a lavender nightgown, she walked over to the two boys with hands placed on her hips.

"Perhaps 'concerned' would be a better term. I told you that nothing horrible would happen to him Shuuya-san; he was just being immature and would return when his senses resurfaced," she huffed.

"However, I am... pleased that you are back, Kousuke-san." She offered him a demure smile and a delicate hand on his own.

"Ah, yeah well... thanks, I guess, Tsubomi." He clumsily shook her hand, while still trying to use his other one to pry a clinging Shuuya off his chest.

However Shuuya's grip refused to break, and Kousuke ended up exasperatingly accepting his fate to constantly be hugged. Maybe it wasn't such a horrible fate after all. And perhaps Shuuya wasn't completely annoying either. And Tsubomi wasn't a complete stuck-up. And Ayano... wasn't there.

"Where's Ayano you guys?"

"Oh, Ayano nee-san is cowering in the corner over there." Tsubomi pointed to the corner she and Shuuya sprung up from. And just like she said, there sat a brown-haired girl in a pink nightgown similar to Tsubomi's, seemingly trying her best to shrink into herself and disappear, as if she wanted her sister's power.

Shuuya was suddenly letting go of Kousuke on his own will, finally allowing him to breathe. Shuuya ran over to where Ayano was sitting, pulled her up, and started dragging her towards the other two.

"I think you have some words you should say to Kousuke, onee-chan," announced Shuuya, undeterred by Ayano's attempts at resisting.

" _I-I_ don't t-think so! Shuuya, l-let go!"

Soon enough, Ayano was face-to-face with her dark-haired brother, her light-haired brother standing behind her so she couldn't run away, while her sister watched on in judgment.

"Well? Aren't you going to say them, Ayano nee-san? Your apologies, like with us?"

"Ah, uh... anooooo, umm, I- uh..." She repeatedly stuttered, squirmed in place, and desperately not looking at anything but the floor. "I'm... sorry, Seto-kun. For what I said earlier. P-please, forgive me..."

Kousuke stood unconvinced. Once again, Ayano was a total coward, but... was she really sorry? He had to know. Turning on his power for the last time that day, he looked her up and down with red eyes, causing Ayano to almost faint.

He heard her thoughts loud. _Very_ loud.

 _W-why is he looking at me with those eyes?! What's he thinking? I-is he mad at me? Why is he so scary? It was easier to apologize to Shuuya and Tsubomi-chan! Ahh! I knew I should have just stayed in my room! Oh, dear... I-I hope he knows I really am sorry. I didn't mean to make him run away, or Shuuya cry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'm sorry, everyone_...

And yet, it was all he needed to hear.

His eyes turned back golden, and a strange, minuscule smile crawled it's way onto his lips. But his voice was still a bit blunt-sounding without him meaning it.

"Forget about it, Ayano. I'm not mad anymore. It's fine, so uh, don't start crying. And... call me Kousuke from now on, okay?"

"O-okay, K-Kousuke-kun!" Ayano yelped, sniffling and rubbing her nose. She made no moves to come and embrace or touch him. Although Kousuke wasn't exactly offended. Neither were the other two kids.

"Thank goodness that that's over..." Tsubomi muttered to herself.

"Great, we're all friends again!" Shuuya bounced up and down, trying to hug all three of them at the same time. Only Tsubomi and Ayano protested.

"Now tell us Kousuke; what happened to you out there? You were gone for so long and oh my! You're so dirty! Something big must've happened! Did you meet anyone? A big monster?" asked a wide-eyed Shuuya.

Memories centering white hair, piercing red eyes, and angelic laughter immediately entered Kousuke's mind.

Staring into the curious eyes of his three... siblings, Kousuke couldn't help but smile that odd, minuscule smile.

"Heh, _about_ _that..._ "

* * *

 **AHHHH! I still can't believe my first fanfic is done! It's been pretty fun so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing.**

 **Thanks to everyone who has supported Touketsu Project so far. Special thanks to my friend Yair (Tumblr: outer-political-science) for helping this to even become possible** **in the first place.**

 **Stick around for more content from Touketsu Project! ;)**


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